LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

NEWELL ERA OF TROY SOFTBALL BEGINS

STORY BY DAN SMITH

Entering his third season as Head Coach of Charles Henderson High baseball, Chase Smartt knows his Trojans may not have the depth they would prefer to have, but he also believes the hard work they put in during preseason will pay off in the long run.

“This preseason we have done a lot of incredible things in practice, from offense to defense to pitching,” said Coach Smartt. “Our scrimmages have gone well, everyone has done their job and that is our focus. Every player has a role and every player has to focus on their role and their job.”

CHHS will depend on a number of players to take the mound, and in doing so that will mean many Trojans must be able to play more than one position.

“Many of our players are playing multiple positions, and their focus needs to be to stay in that mindset of that position only,” said Coach Smartt. “When everyone focuses on their own spot and doing their job, then our chances of working together and communicating together will be greater.

“The competitive nature of this group is everywhere. Everybody is trying to get better whether it be pitching, hitting, running the bases, and I see that every day, which is good. I think when we put it all in, with those nine or ten players in a lineup, it will be great.”

Looking to pitch as starters or relievers this season for CHHS will include Parker Adams, Will Templin, Wes Templin, Bradley Prestwood, KaNeil Lewis, Jordan McBryde, Chase Vaznaian, Cole

Pugh, Blake Lowery, Clay Johnson and Cooper Johnson.

The Trojans will also look to four seniors to provide leadership in 2023, including Damien Hart, Connor Jones, Will Templin and Kevin Yoeman.

Every pitcher leans on their infield and outfield to back them up, and Coach Smartt sees several Trojans contributing across the diamond.

“I feel very confident. We have a lot of options as we have multiple guys that can play third, short, second or first,” said Coach Smartt. “We are going to need a lot of options as to when someone has to pitch or if someone gets hurt, so that we have someone to play that position. We also have good numbers in our outfield. We do have two seniors in the outfield, but the rest of the guys are young. We are going to depend on those seniors to work with the younger guys to get them ready to play at the varsity level.

“Offensively, we have been communicating on working on getting our bunts down, hit and runs, finding the gaps, and we feel good about that. If we can focus on doing that including some small ball, we will be ready for the season.”

In baseball, success is not only determined by talent, but also by how a team gels and comes together.

“I always tell the players that the chemistry of the team bond is better than talent,” said Coach Smartt. “You can have all the talent you want, but if you have no chemistry it will be hard to work as one. What I have seen in this preseason is everybody working together, communicating together and having fun together. To play the game of baseball you have to have a good bond to compete and win games.”

Coach Smartt believes the regular season schedule will be challenging, and area competition will be tough.

“I think our regular season schedule is fair enough, top to bottom,” said Coach Smartt. “If we can focus on one game at a time, then we will be just fine. If we do lose that game, then we will regain focus and say let’s go 1-0 the next game. That’s our mindset.”

Headland, Rehobeth, Carroll of Ozark and CHHS will make up Class 5A, Area 3.

Coach Smartt is also optimistic about the up and coming talent for CHHS baseball.

“The junior high team (7th, 8th and 9th graders) has a bright future because they are baseball players,” said Coach Smartt. “When you have talent and they work together, it looks bright for the future. We are making sure these guys stay in the weight room and work on their roles, and working on the fundamentals.”

The roster for CHHS will include seniors Damien Hart, Connor Jones, Will Templin and Kevin Yeoman; juniors are Parker Adams, Benton Dunn, Joshua Wooten and Bradley Prestwood; sophomores are Wilson Jones, KaNeil Lewis, Blake Lowery, Jordan McBryde and Cole Pugh; and freshmen are Clay Johnson, Cooper Johnson, Wes Templin and Chase Vaznaian.

Class: 5A

Area: 3

Field: Terry Sikes